Record-printing device



D. B. GRAY..

RECORD PRINTING DEVICE,

APPucATmN FILED JUNE25, 1920.

1,372,501. Patented Mar. '22, 1921..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DEXTER B. GRAY, OF KINGSVILLE, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR 'IO BOWEN CAB, INITIAL &

NUMBER RECORD (30., OF KINGSVILLE, TEXAS.

RECORD-PRINTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pflftentefl 11 22 1921 Applicationfiled June 25, 1920. Serial No. 391,627.

To allcvhom it may concern Be it known that I, DEXTER B. GRAY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at TZingsville, in the county ofNueces and State of Texas, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Record-Printing Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to record printing devices of the kind shown inLetters Patent of the United States No. 1,094,298, ranted Apr. 21,1914:, to Carl B. Bowen, of Baileyville, Oklahoma. This patent shows adevice for use on cars by passengers or men of the crew to print in aquick and easy manner a record indicating the number of the car andother such data.

The object of the present invention is to provide a device of the samegeneral kind as that shown in said patent, but which is of improvedconstruction, being more easily and economically made, more durable,better protected from the weather, more conveniently operated and whichis provided with means of gaging the card or sheet of paper when movedto. printing position.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved record printing device applied to the side of a car.

Fig. 2 shows a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the lower portion of the device with partsbroken away, indicating how the sheet or card is inserted in the device.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of bend. The housing B for theprinting device is preferably also made of sheet metal. It is closed attop, bottom, opposite ends and at the front and is open at its innerend. It has a flange 6 which is overlapped by the cated ing devices 0.In this way a space is pro vided in the casing for the reception ofcards or sheets of paper. The housing B is also secured to the strips Cby fastening devices 0'. In this way a weather-proof casing is provided,open only at the bottom as indiat w.

Within the housing B there is a die carrier D, provided with a pin 03extending through an opening in the front of the housing. This pin maybe called a push pin although it is intended usually that it be struckby a hammer or other suitable tool, to operate the die.

The die carrier is yieldingly held in a retracted position by springs Eset in sockets c in the die carrier and bearing against the strips C. yo

By bearing or striking on the pin d the die carrier may be forced inwardagainst the force of the springs.

. As shown in Fig. 5, the die carrier is formed with a dove-tailedsocket cl to receive the die G which carries the printing devices 9 andthe cutters H. There is a cuteach cutter is of T-form and the cutting:edges are disposed above or beyond the plane of the printing devices.The part 72. of each cutter is disposed longitudinally of the die andthe part h at right angles to the part 7L.

It will be observed by reference to Fig. i that the strips C are cutaway at their lower ends and shoulders c are formed therein. NVhen acard or sheet S is first inserted, a number of numbers or otherindications are formed at the top of the car or sheet vwhen the die isoperated and at the same time a corner is cut from the card or sheet oneach side, as indicated at c. When the printing device is retracted andthe card is moved farther inward its movement is limited by theshoulders c which serve to position the card or sheet in such mannerthat the next inward movement of the printing device in nor blurrin ofthe record is revented.

Cir

ach time a printing operation is performed corners are cut from the cardor sheet and thus a series of lines may be printed in proper order ifdesired.

The cutters are of such form that the card or sheet comes in contactwith the cutters at the pointsz as indicated in Fig. 6.

It is the custom in order to identify ears, tomake a memorandum of thename of the railroad, the number of the car, and the weight of the car.This is done by someone ass'igned to such duty, usually with a pencil ina memorandum book or on slips of paper.

It is often done under unfavorable conditions, such as darkness, rain,windy weather, and the like, and often mistakes are made and a car withperishable goods is lost by reasons of such mistakes, the contents ofthe car are destroyed and the railway company often stands the loss. Thedevice above described is intended to remedy these troubles. Each car isprovided with one of these devices. The printing device carries adiewith the initials of the railway, such as ERR, indicated in Fig. 4,next the number of the ear, such as 1e56, and next the weight of the carand contents, such as 125770 indicated in Fig. 4. The printing die maybe supplied with ink in any suitable way or it may merely indent thenumbers in a card or slip of paper, but

preferably a sheet of carbon paper is employed and inserted with thecard or slip so that a carbon impression is made on the slip. It will,thus, be seen that the person having the duty of taking the informationcan very easily obtain the necessary record.

I Each car, as before stated, carries a printing device indicating thename of the railroad, the number of the car, and the weight of the carand contents, the figures indicating the weight being adjusted when thecar starts on its journey. Thereafter at any time a record may be takenin the manner before explained.

- I claim as my invention 1. A printing device, comprising a casingclosed at the top and having an opening at its lower end through which asheet to be printed may be inserted, and which comprises a back part anda front part which is of less length than the back part and is formedwith a shoulder'near one end, a housing projecting sidewise from thefront of the casing and opening thereinto and which is provided with aflange engaging the shouldered portion of the front of the casing andwith a flange projecting in an opposite direction to the lower end ofthe casing, a die carrier operating in said housing, a pin for operatingthe die carrier, and springs for returning the die carrier to normalposition.

2. A printing device, comprising a casing having an opening at its lowerend into which a sheet to be printed may be inserted, a die carrier, ahousing for the die carrier projecting laterally from the casing andopening thereinto, springs for returning the die carrier to normalposition, a printing device mounted on the die carrier, and a cutter atone end of the printing device and carried thereby for cutting a notchin the corner of the sheet during the printing operation, said casingbeing provided with a shoulder at one side with which the notchedportion of the sheet engages when the sheet is moved vertically into thecasing.

3. A printing device, comprising a sheet metal casing having integralback and front parts connected at the top by an integral part of themetal, strips closing the opposite sides of the casing and securedthereto, a sheet metal housing detachably connected with the casing andsecured to said side strips, a die carrier mounted within the cusing, apin extending through the casing for operating the die carrier, and acombined cutter and die removably mounted in the die carrier.

at. A printing device, comprising 3 casing, a housing connectedtherewith, a die carrier mounted in the housing, means for operating it,a die mounted in the carrier provided with printing devices, and acutter at one end of the printing device and carried thereby for forminga, notch in the sheet to be printed during the printing operation, saidcasing being provided on one side with a shoulder with which the notchedportion of the sheet engages when moved into the casing.

5. A printing device, comprising a casing, a housing connectedtherewith, a die carrier within the housing, means for operating the diecarrier, a printing die mounted on the carrier, and a T-shaped cutter atone end of the printing die and carried thereby for forming a notch onthe sheet on which the record is made, said casing being provided on oneside with a shoulder with which the notched portion of the sheet engageswhen the sheet is moved into the casing.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

DEXTER B. GRAY.

